Improvements in immunosuppressive therapy during the past decadehave brought us closer to the day when long-term acceptanceof organ allografts will be routine. These achievements, however,have run up against an important limitation: death of the recipientfrom cardiovascular disease, infection, and cancer.1 As comparedwith an age-matched healthy population or with patients undergoingdialysis, organ-transplant recipients have an increased incidenceof cancer; one study found that after 20 years of immunosuppressivetherapy, 40 percent of recipients had cancer.2 Further burdensare to be expected in an aging population of transplant recipientswith well-functioning allografts.
From the Institut de Transplantation et de Recherche en Transplantation, INSERM Unité 463, Nantes University, Centre Hospitalier Régional Universitaire de Nantes, Nantes, France.
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